Political Wisdom: Big Failure Turns to Bigger Blame Game

Here’s a summary of the smartest new political analysis on the Web:by Gerald F. Seib and Sara Murray

Immediately after the $700 billion rescue plan failed, the blame game began. Choose your political scapegoat because there’s plenty to go around.

The Journal’s own Washington Wire takes a look at the House Republicans that say Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s partisan speech is the reason the bill failed. “House Minority Leader John Boehner (R., Ohio) said that Pelosi’s speech ‘poisoned’ the Republican caucus and ’caused a number of members we thought we could get to go south,’” writes Patrick Yoest. “‘I do believe that we could have gotten there today, had it not been for the partisan speech that the Speaker gave on the floor of the House,’ Boehner said.”

Salon.com adds two charming items to the mix. In the first item, by Thomas Schaller, we get a dose of Pelosi’s self-defense. “The basic message from Pelosi is that the Democrats and the White House are on board so the failure of the bailout bill has to be the GOP’s fault,” Schaller writes. “Look, the Democrats did deliver a majority of about 60 percent of its caucus’ votes for the bill…But c’mon: 60 percent? So, while (James) Clyburn is up there now praising that 60 percent and decrying the GOP’s 67 percent nay votes, there’s still no explanation for why the Dem leaders could not keep their coalition together.” (We’ll get to the second Salon item later).Mike Allen at Politico points out that John McCain and his aides were touting “a winning bailout coalition – hours before the vote failed and stocks tanked.” Allen continues, writing, “The rush to claim he had engineered a victory now looks like a strategic blunder that will prolong the McCain’s campaign’s difficulty in finding a winning message on the economy.” Meantime McCain also blasted Barack Obama for “watching from the sidelines.” It wasn’t a pleasant sight after the bill failed, Allen notes. “After the vote, commentators were harsh. MSNBC’s Chris Matthews said: ‘He’s like a cavalry commander who said ‘Charge!’ and the Republicans went into retreat.’”

A few others take a look at McCain’s comments, and The Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder wonders, “So if McCain wanted credit for passage, should he share some of the blame for its defeat? Two thirds of half Republicans voted for its defeat…after a weekend of telephone call diplomacy from McCain. Nancy Pelosi may have given a partisan speech, but she was able to get most of her Democrats on board….”

Now for the second Salon.com item: the McCain campaign’s defense. The campaign contends that Obama failed to lead on the bailout. “The spin isn’t entirely off-base — it is true that Obama stayed out of the middle of negotiations over the bill, and since a deal was reached over the weekend, Obama has essentially called the bailout a necessary evil, which isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement,” writes Mike Madden. “But McCain may be ruing his own decision to get involved, now that his own party has bailed on the bailout.”

Time.com’s Jay Carney looks at the broader picture of what this says about the state of the Republican Party. “What this episode has taught us,” Carney writes, “is that the fissures in the GOP are far too deep to have been repaired, lastingly, by the selection of a running mate or even the possibility that the Republicans could hold onto the White House. A McCain loss in November, if it happens, will hasten the reckoning. But the reckoning seems certain to come regardless.”

Really, the bill’s failure “is a classic example of an old adage: all politics is local,” says Washingtonpost.com’s Chris Cillizza. “Despite the fact that President George W. Bush and the leadership of both parties lined up behind the bill, the rank and file of both parties — particularly on the Republican side — rebelled in light of polling that showed the American public is deeply skeptical about a planned $700 billion bailout for the financial industry. With just over one month left before the November election, politicians of both partisan stripes are concerned primarily about one thing: their own political futures.” Cillizza goes on to point out that “It’s no coincidence then that of the 205 Members who voted in support of the bill today, there are only two — Reps. Chris Shays (R-Conn.) and Jon Porter (R-Nev.) — who find themselves in difficult reelection races this fall. The list of the 228 ‘nays’ reads like a virtual target list for the two parties.”

And where do Obama’s fortunes fall on all of this? Cillizza says, “The focus on the economy seems to have accrued to Obama and the Democrats’ benefit…With the bailout bill almost certain to remain in the news for the remainder of this week (and perhaps far longer), McCain and the Republican Party must find a way to turn around their negative trend line on the issue.”

Comments (5 of 48)

A&D 1:12: oh, you weren't addressing your comments to me? You must've been talking to the other guys that mentioned the GSEs, who were...oh, that's right, there weren't any!
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I'm never disappointed by your posts: generally a bunch of random half-facts wandering aimlessly about, looking for some sort of conclusion...and this is no exception. And your concern is touching, but don't worry about offending me. You've just beclowned yourself, as usual. Tell you what: why don't YOU explain it all to the American people? Just go on public access and yell, "Mortgage markets! 12 trillion vs. 20 trillion! Derivatives, stupid! Iraq! Get the picture?" You have no idea how any of this works, and have said so yourself, you fanciful little mountebank. Now go finish your crayons.

5:37 pm September 30, 2008

Gail W wrote :

Pelossi, the Dems. could have passed this if she wanted to. The longer she stalls action, the better it is for Obama, her guy. She is a smart politician, and knows exactly what she is doing, insulting the Reps. in her little speech, is all of her plan, to keep the heat on,while Obama rises up in the polls.Pelossi, the rat,had 20% of sale of paper going to ACORN in the original bailout plan, the Republicans caught that,and had it taken out,of the revised bailout.Pelossi does'nt care anything about the American people, her only drive is to get Obama into the White House, then we would have Obama,Pelossi,Reed running our country, God help us.

2:10 pm September 30, 2008

Anonymous wrote :

First of all, a huge f*** you to Nancy Pelosi for not getting 96 Dems on board and launching into an attack of the current administration (hey, lady, you have been in charge for 2 years - you let it happen or did nothing to change it). Then another to the House Repubs for whining, "someone said something bad". Grow up and do what's right. If they had said they still had issues, that would be one thing. They only said it was b/c Nancy Pelosi said upsetting things. Boo freakin' hoo. And a big global one for going home for 2 days and leaving a mess - how much of Congress is actually Jewish, maybe 10 - 15%? Fine, if you are observing the holiday, please join your families and get up to speed when you get back. Everyone else work around the clock.
You all stink!

1:21 pm September 30, 2008

appalledanddismayed wrote :

Well Todd, my comments were not addressed at you in particular. I'm sorry I offended you but the truth is the truth. And if you don't like the poker analogy, that just tough. Because it's actually pretty accurate. Fanny and Freddie failed because they couldn't get financing to support their mortgage portfolios. Just like Wamu and Wachovia. The problem is the derivatives that these guys carried which are super sophisticated hedging instruments. The problem is that only a few people really know how to value them which has made them untradeable. The mortgage derivative market is 20 trillion versus a 12 trillion mortgage market. Starting to get the picture? Somebody needed to explain this to the American people rather than just call them bad loans and blame foreclosed Americans for the problem

10:55 am September 30, 2008

Todd, the Sofa King wrote :

A&D 6:31, etc.:
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You know, to first misstate my point about Fannie and Freddie, and then to dismiss the roles of both agencies (which WERE JUST NATIONALIZED!) as well as their congressional enablers in this mess... followed (incredibly!) by your: a) likening our current financial situation to a big poker game, and ; b) admitting that you don't know what you're talking about (on this point, btw, you are correct) further supports my belief that you are a feeble-minded, crayon-eating purveyor of nonsense. Just be glad stupidity isn't painful, and that Crayola is still in business so that you won't starve.
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Peace, and don't be hatin'!

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Capital Journal is WSJ.com’s unique site for analysis of the political and policy maneuvering in Washington in the era of Barack Obama. It features the Capital Journal columns and occasional other postings by executive Washington editor Gerald F. Seib, and will house Political Wisdom, the Journal’s daily aggregation of the smartest political analysis from around the Internet. Also look for regular columns by Peter Brown of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute and occasional contributions from others.